Wrapped in Darkness and Silence
by wanderingdreamer05
Summary: Jessalyn McKallister has never been one to follow the rules, often rebelling against whatever authority there was. Realizing her reckless attitude was only hurting her mother, Jessa enrolled in Star Fleet Academy at the suggestion of her uncle hoping it would change her for the better. But nothing could've prepared her the attack they would be placed under several years later.


**Hey guys! This is my first ever Star Trek story so please be nice with your reviews (or offer constructive criticism if you think anything is wrong with the story thus far) With that out of the way, I'm really excited to let you guys read this. So I hope you enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed writing it.**

 **Disclaimer: Don't own Star Trek. Only own Jessa.**

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Jessalyn McKallister had never been one to follow rules, of any kind. The mere thought of her joining Starfleet sent those who had spent more than five minutes with the girl into fits of laughter. The idea of the curly blonde wearing uniforms and following a set schedule, answering "no ma'am" and "yes sir" to those in authority over her was simply ludicrous. But yet, here she was stepping across the field to the entrance into the shuttlecraft that would take all new recruits to what they would call home for the next four to eight years, some even longer.

She paused in her walking to gaze up at the outpost around her, wondering if she was indeed making the right decision. As her mother's relieved expression flitted through her mind when she had informed her a few months earlier about enlisting, she sighed and knew the right decision had been made. Though knowing that didn't stop her from thinking about everything she was leaving behind by boarding this shuttle. Her mother, her friends (what few ones she had), her independence and her habit of breaking rules; joining Starfleet was going to be completely different from her life back home... but she was doing this for her mother.

As she stepped underneath a low hanging beam, she was greeted by a sea of crimson as her sapphire orbs ran over the newest members of Starfleet Academy decked out in their long-sleeved and high-collared cadet uniforms, the exact same one she wore. When she realized she was blocking the path for those behind her entering the shuttle, she quickly scurried down a row and plopped down in the first open seat she laid her eyes on. She pulled the seat belt straps over her shoulders before buckling it around her middle. Her eyes closed before she released a breath of air, her nerves of what was to come dissolving with it.

Once she opened her eyes, she glanced around to see who was sitting near her. Her blue eyes landed on another female close by. Her neighbor had long, dark, brown hair with half of it pulled up into a ponytail on the top of her head. Her skin was the color of milk chocolate and her eyes were a color matching her hair. Sensing someone looking at her, the female glanced towards the blonde with her eyebrow raised in a questioning manner.

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to stare. I promise," Jessalyn said quickly before an easy smile graced her lips. "I'm Jessalyn, Jessalyn McKallister."

The woman beside her hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Uhura."

"No last name?" Jessalyn asked and as soon as the words were out, she realized her tone was a bit more sarcastic than she had intended. The woman, however, didn't seem to notice.

"That is my last name."

"Oh." Jessalyn blinked. "No first name?" The look the female gave her said she clearly wasn't willing to share so the blonde changed the subject. "So, what's your major of study?" She asked.

"Xenolinguistics," Uhura replied.

"Uh..." Jessalyn racked her brain, trying to remember what that meant or if she had even heard it. She know it had something to do with languages, but she didn't know what.

"Study of alien languages." It wasn't Uhura who supplied the helpful answer for the blonde, but rather another female cadet sitting across from them. Jessalyn turned to glance at the brunette who was smiling at her, her hand extended across the gap towards her. "Shaeffer. Elissa Shaeffer."

"Jessalyn McKallister," The blonde said as she took the female's hand in her own as was the greeting. "Thanks."

"No problem," Elissa said as her hand returned to her lap. "Not many people know what it is. I only know because my father's in Starfleet," She explained.

Jessalyn laughed. "My uncle is, too. So, I should've known. But I don't really pay much attention."

Elissa smiled. "Well, I have a feeling you'll have to start paying attention."

"I get that feeling, too," Jessalyn agreed as she returned the smile from the brunette. Elissa was nice, and Jessalyn got a small feeling the two would be friends soon enough. "So, what about you? What are you studying?"

"I'm training to be a pilot," Elissa said with a nod of her head. "My dad's a captain and he'd come home and tell me and my brother all these stories, and I decided at a pretty young age I wanted to experience my own stories."

"My uncle was a captain, too. Used to share the craziest stories with me when I was little. As I got older I didn't really wanna listen, so he stopped." Jessalyn glanced down as she spoke before shrugging off the feelings of guilt. "But, maybe being in Starfleet now I can have my own stories to share with him."

"Who was your uncle? I might know him. My dad was always speaking of the other captains," Elissa questioned.

"Christopher Pike," Jessalyn answered.

"He's a good friend of my father's," Elissa said. "And he's a really good captain."

Jessalyn smiled at that. While her uncle had always been a central figure in mother's life, she had never allowed the man to be a large part of _her_ life. He was always around, but she never tried to get close to him; she always pushed him away-much like she did everyone else. When Jessalyn was only two years old, her father walked out on the family. Though, the word father was used in the loosest sense. Jessalyn didn't consider the man her father in any form. Despite pushing him away, she saw her uncle as more of a father figure than her own father. Christopher Pike had stepped in and offered assistance when he saw his younger sister struggling to support her and her daughter. While she had never shown her gratefulness, she was truly thankful for all he had done for her and her mother.

Before the blonde could say something about Elissa's comment concerning her uncle, a voice cut through the girls' conversation.

"Never did get that first name."

Uhura gave an annoyed smile but otherwise ignored the comment directed at her. Jessalyn glanced towards the sound of the voice and saw a male dressed in regular civilian clothes. It wouldn't have been weird except for the sea of red cadet uniforms surrounding him. Her eyes gazed up from his everyday attire to his face, her sapphire orbs meeting his own. She watched the smirk cross his full lips as their gazes met, and she couldn't fight the small smile upon her own. As she stared at the male a little longer, she realized he looked oddly familiar to her. She cocked her head, the blonde curls spilling out over her shoulder. He raised his eyebrows at her in a questioning manner.

"Jim Kirk?" Jessalyn questioned when she had finally placed where she had seen his face before. He lived a few houses down from where she did in the small town. Their mothers often visited each other, and Jessalyn had only met Jim once or twice. She always had better things to do than play hostess.

"Yeah..." Jim's face twisted into confusion. "How-how do you know me?" He asked.

"My mother and yours are friends," She explained for him and watched as recognition passed through his blue eyes. Elissa had since turned to speak with someone else while Jessalyn became otherwise engaged. Uhura seemed to be trying her best at ignoring Jim.

"Right. Jessalyn," He said with a nod, a smirk now upon his lips once again. "Wow. You've grown up quite a lot."

"Considering the last time I saw you was when I was thirteen, I would assume I've grown up since then," Jessalyn commented.

"Yeah, you were never 'round when our mothers hung out... why's that?" Jim asked.

"I wasn't interested in making nice-nice with the boy from next door," Jessalyn told him and watched as Jim smirked once again, clearly amused by the slightly biting tone in the blonde's voice. She could tell he was taking this as a challenge, like she was playing hard to get. While-with his full lips, piercing blue eyes and messy blonde hair-he was attractive, she wasn't interested.

"Technically, I was the boy a few doors down," Jim quipped and Jessalyn found herself rolling her eyes at his playful tone.

Just as she opened her mouth to retort back a louder, more panicked voice cut across her own. It appeared one of the academy officers was pulling another new recruit towards the seats, and he seemed adamant on not going. Jessalyn could tell, even from this distance, the grip the woman held on the man's upper arm was strong. As they stepped below the metal bar, the woman loosened her grip and the man pulled his arm free. She turned around. With her hands on her hips, Jessalyn could tell she was losing what little patience she held.

"You need a doctor," She told him.

"I told you people, I don't need a doctor. Damnit, I am a doctor," The male stated, just as annoyed as the woman seemed to be.

"You need to get back to your seat."

"I had one... in the bathroom... with no windows," The man said, and Jessalyn couldn't help but give a small smile at his words as she listened into the conversation. She glanced over at Elissa who also was smiling.

"You need to get back to your seat, now!" The female officer demanded.

"I suffer from aviophobia. It means fear of dying in something that flies!" The man exclaimed, clearly not feeling comfortable in this shuttle.

"Sir, for your own safety, sit down or else I'll make you sit down," She snapped at him. The female officer was clearly getting very frustrated with the new recruit. She was just trying to do her job; she didn't have time to deal with those afraid of heights and flying.

The male's quick retorts died away before he nodded his head and realized she was serious about her threat. "Fine."

"Thank you," She said, her voice sounding relieved as he walked away and sat down in an empty seat beside Jim.

As soon as the female officer had left, another voice familiar to Jessalyn could be heard from the speakers on the shuttlecraft. "This is Captain Pike. We've been cleared for takeoff."

It seemed the male was the holding up the departure. Jessa glanced over in his direction as he lectured Jim on just what could happen if accidents occurred and one was exposed to space. The blonde male had an adorably confused expression on his face, but it wasn't him who Jessa found herself staring at. The paranoid brunette, who had informed the female officer he was a doctor, was who held Jessalyn's interest. If he really did have this fear that he was claiming to have, maybe he should've thought about that before joining Starfleet. She couldn't help but wonder what would make someone, who had a fear of flying, choose a profession that ultimately would involve lots of flying in deep space. It didn't make any sense to her.

"Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence," The brunette male said as he reached into his pocket and produced a small flask that no doubt contained some form of alcohol, probably to calm his nerves.

"Well, I hate to break this to you, but Starfleet operates in space," Jim informed the male, as if he had no clue what he was getting himself into. The man took a sip from his flask before answering, and Jessa found herself leaning forward in anticipation of what answer he could possibly give.

"Yeah, well, got nowhere else to go," He responded. "The ex-wife took the whole damn planet in the divorce. All I've got left is my bones." He offered the flask to Jim who glanced at it in hesitation before taking a sip.

"Jim Kirk."

The man took the flask back from Jim and took a sip before answering. "McCoy. Leonard McCoy."

He took another sip before sighing. Jessalyn realized she was staring and quickly averted her gaze before the male could turn to look at her. She still didn't understand his reasoning for joining Starfleet. It just seemed like the worst career choice in the history of bad career choices, and she was sure there were plenty of those. Even with him citing his divorce as the reasoning behind him joining Starfleet, she couldn't find that a good enough reason. She shrugged. Wasn't her problem. She gave him six months, maybe a year before he quit, because she certainly couldn't see him sticking out the entire length of the program-not with his fear of dying in a plane, or whatever he had explained it was.

"Sir, put your drink away!"

Jessalyn glanced towards the frustrated voice and saw the same female officer as before snapping an order at the paranoid doctor. The male glanced at her before taking a quick sip, much to the officer's annoyance, before stuffing the flask into a pocket. She shot him a dark, warning glare before she walked away to observe the rest of the cadets in the shuttle. Jim held an amused grin on his face, and Jessalyn couldn't help but smirk slightly at McCoy's discomfort.

"You seem to like getting yourself in trouble," Jessalyn commented, her blue eyes turning to face the male before her.

As he turned to face the person who had spoke, Jessalyn was given the chance to actually see him. His emerald eyes stood out against his jet black hair, and the stubble he wore on his face seemed unkempt and out of place. Quite frankly, it gave Jessalyn the impression he had rolled out of bed and stumbled onto the shuttlecraft by accident. And he claimed to be a doctor? She was finding that very difficult to believe, especially with his appearance now. She was tempted to comment on it, but realized that wouldn't be very nice to do. Had this been any other time, the comment would have slipped past her lips without another thought. But, Jessalyn was turning over a new leaf and starting fresh; she had promised her mother she'd at least try and take her time while at Starfleet Academy seriously.

So the comment went unmade.

"Well, rules were made to be broken, right?" Jim asked. Jessalyn glanced at him but turned her blue eyes back onto McCoy, waiting for his response.

"Going against a current isn't always easier, but it sure makes for one helluva ride."

At his answer, Jessalyn couldn't help but laugh. The words just didn't seem to match up with the small southern twang in his voice. It just seemed so out of place. At her laugh, a small twinkle appeared in his green eyes, and a small smile seemed to appear on her lips-one she wasn't used to wearing.

"Did you just use a metaphor?" She questioned. He gave a nod of his head. "Don't ever do that again," She added, though the teasing tone in her voice seemed to cancel out the words that had left her lips.

"Can't promise that, sweetheart," McCoy told her.

"I don't answer to 'sweetheart'," She informed him with a small shake of her head. "It's Jessalyn McKallister. But I might answer to Jessa." She gave a teasing grin, and the dark-haired male gave another nod of his head in her direction.

"Jessalyn it is."

She smiled as she settled back in her seat while the male had taken to glancing around to check for that female officer before sneaking a few more sips of whatever alcohol he had brought with him. She didn't know much about him, other than he was a doctor who suffered from Aviophobia and he had a divorce quite recently, but the brief conversation they had shared made her think there wasn't anything interesting left to learn. He wasn't really someone she could see herself associating with. Not really something to worry herself with seeing as she still thought he wouldn't last long in Starfleet.

But only time would tell.


End file.
